london chinatown

No, I have not forgotten what number day it is! I have forgotten, though, how long each of these blog posts takes to write and how little time I actually have in the day. So with that in mind… I’ve realized that daily blogging isn’t exactly realistic with the amount of reading and writing I’ve been having to do even in these two weeks; prepare for less posts (BOOOOO). However, there is also another reason I haven’t been posting anything. If you’ve read the title, you probably already know… I’ve been sick.

Yes, you’ve heard me correctly! I contracted the wonderfully contagious “fresher’s flu” that usually hits hardest in the first year students because they party hardy every single night during welcome week. I was not one of those people, yet I still caught the disease. Thankfully, I don’t have to bear it alone because my whole flat is coughing up a collective lung (not to mention the symphony of mucus-laden coughs and gags during the Shakespeare lecture last Friday)! I still wonder where I got the illness from, though… a girl has to wonder.

Before I drowned in a mix of hot tea, cold medicine, and mucus, I had a pretty enjoyable weekend. Jen, Danielle, Nicole, and I all headed out to London Chinatown on Saturday night to get some fancy-pantsy dinner (at a reasonable price) and other things around the area. Once we left dinner at the Golden Phoenix (or something like that; there were many-colored phoenix restaurants), we had no idea what to do. Planning is everything, friends! We walked into what claimed to be the oldest bar in London, saw it was too busy, and promptly left. We wandered into a frozen yogurt place accurately named Snog (sarcasm), met an Australian guy who thought Texas and Pennsylvania were close to each other, and saw a West End show. Wait, what? You saw another show?! Yes! At around 7:30, we weren’t sure what we wanted to do to end the evening. We looked down the street and, as if placed there by angels, “Shakespeare in Love” presented itself. So, we figured, why not check out what seats they have available right before the show starts?! Long story short, we got decent seats for 15 pounds. Pretty amazing, if I say so myself, especially for a Saturday! The show was FANTASTIC and I loved it so so so much. I would definitely recommend it; for Shakespeare fans, it’s HILARIOUS. For non-Shakespeare fans but fans of good theater, it’s HILARIOUS. Either way, you’re winning!

Saturday was pretty awesome, so naturally Sunday had to be the beginning of my sickness. Jen and I pretty much did homework all day seeing as we both had copious amounts of reading for classes on Monday, and towards the end of the night I began to get a runny nose. I had been complaining about a scratchy throat for a day or two, but the nose thing was new and completely unwelcome. I remember Jen saying something like “I swear if you get sick I’m disowning you” to which I replied “Trust me, I think it’s just a weather thing I’ll be fine.”

No, you won’t be fine, Riley. You just won’t be.

I woke up Monday morning not being able to breathe. My nose was congested and my voice sounded blocked up, the perfect recipe for a cold! With these wonderful thoughts in mind, and no medicine with which to doctor myself, I trudged off to class. Though, I will say, I did take an ibuprofen for my throat pain and all of the tissue packs I had on my person. Needless to say, I barely had enough tissues for the whole day.

Now, Mondays are my worst days in terms of class because I pretty much run from 11 until 5 with crummy one hour breaks in between. With this cold as my cross, Monday was even more atrocious. I attempted to get some medicine in between class by travelling to each of the three campus stores, but none of them had anything worth my pounds. The line in the bookstore was too long for me to give it a fair look, but it’s safe to say their wares were probably too expensive. Such is London.

After I suffered through all of my classes and refused to talk because of my disgusting voice, I convinced Jen to travel to Sainsbury’s and Budgens to find medicine. I ended up buying, after much deliberation, “Sainsbury’s Max Strength Cold & Flu Day & Night” (wow so generic) which is pretty much Dayquil/Nyquil and some Sudafed Nasal Spray for my terrible sinus congestion. One of my flatmates was sweet enough to give me a box of her tissues, but the day proved to me that I would need much more than just one box. Therefore, I bought two boxes of Kleenex, one called “balsam mansize” (what I’m assuming to be the lotion kind) and a normal one. Both were softer than the toilet paper and napkins I had been using, obviously, so they were both cherished.

Two days later, I am feeling much better. The cold has moved down to my throat where it kills me with random coughs that make people jump (trust me, it actually happened today on the Tube). My wonderful friend Nicole bought me some cough medicine because we have twillnesses (twin illnesses… too much?), so that has been helping somewhat.

Cold aside, I actually did some cool things today as well. Nicole and I went to Chiswick House for our Architecture class today, a trip with a travel time of about 50 minutes by Tube. It was pretty cool, kinda bland, but I guess that’s what Lord Burlington was going for when he attempted to revive the Italian Renaissance in England. After Chiswick House, I had to travel to Blackfriars to get to Shakespeare’s Globe as I had bought a ticket for “The Comedy of Errors.” I was nervous about travelling there on my own, but I survived unscathed! I feel like a true Londoner. I may have arrived to the show 20 minutes late, but I can’t say enough how cool the Globe is. I had a standing seat (LOL) and everyone literally just stands in front of the stage. It is so cool! The show itself was hilarious (and the guys in it weren’t that bad to look at either) and I am so glad I went, even if I was late. Growing experiences, yay! I will say, my favorite part of the show was when two of the guards came out and did a silent filler scene. An explosion had just happened onstage, making one of the statues’ heads break off. The one guard picked up the head and held it in the air Hamlet-style, looking at the other with a knowing look. Everyone was chuckling; ha-ha, Shakespeare joke in a Shakespeare play ha-ha. But the real kicker was when both of the guards picked up brooms that were lying on the ground, put them between their legs, and tossed the head between them LIKE QUIDDITCH. Everyone in the crowd cheered and clapped; how cool is it that Shakespearean actors incorporated Harry Potter into one of their plays? INCREDIBLY COOL!

To end the post, I will say a few things: Even though I won’t be doing daily blogs, I will still try and keep this blog updated at least weekly. You guys (especially my family and friends) deserve to know what’s been going on! Hopefully this post sufficed. See you next time!

Tuesday was certainly a great day. I woke up with no worries (hakuna matata, am I right?) because BAM I had no classes. It felt so luxuriously easy and natural to just wake up at 9 without worrying about finding the right building or room; I was completely calm and at ease. I made myself a bowl of cereal, sat down with some Youtube videos, and began enjoying my morning.

Then I remembered I had homework to do. Siiiiiiigh.

I have a short essay due Sunday (and every Sunday until I leave QMUL) that I had to work on, so I whipped out the poem I had to write it on. After a couple minutes of barely glazing the page with my eyes, I returned to Youtube. The poem would have to be done later. In case you’re asking, I have half the essay written (don’t judge).

Jen came back from class and we were off to Westfield Stratford Mall to hit up Primark; I needed some new pillows desperately. The one provided by the college is so thin and grossly uncomfortable that to even feign comfort I had to fold the pillow in half, a feat that was surprisingly easy. So, we set out for Primark with pillows in mind. I also figured I’d look for a slightly bigger purse as well seeing as the purse I am currently using doesn’t hold most items larger than four inches. Once we entered the mall, we actually took a turn into Marks & Spencer, a department store that reminded me a lot of a Macy’s / Nordstrom type deal. It was gorgeous inside with higher-end groceries and teas, multiple cafes, and multiple floors to house the cafes. Finding a random obsession with interior design, we ran up to the homegoods floor.

While everything is quite expensive in Marks & Spencer, it does seem like good quality. You’d have to go and check it out yourself, but I would say that if you have the money to spend, go for it. It seems like it would be worth your while.

We entered Primark, bought pillows and a purse, and set back out into the mall. I had a hankering for some Starbucks, so Starbucks we bought. I purchased some weird mango tea drink that tasted like heaven, so I made a mental note for future reference. Although I do appreciate the frequent Starbucks littering every corner of London, they are ungodly expensive. If you think the States are bad, just take a gander at British prices. If my memory serves correctly, a small frappacino was 3.25 pounds (roughly 5 USD), which is insane for such a small and sugary drink. I’d pay $3.25 for it, but not in pounds.

After Starbucks, there really wasn’t anything else we wanted to see in the mall, so we headed back to campus. After all, we had to get ready for the biggest part of the day: WICKED! Jen and I bought tickets to see Wicked for about 17 pounds for pretty decent seats. They were up on the next level, but they were aisle seats with a pretty clear view of the stage below. I was so excited, but first I had to worry about travelling the Tube during rush hour and then finding a place to eat. Then, of course, we had to worry about getting to the theater in time. PHEW.

The Tube was surprisingly not busy, but finding a place to eat was still difficult. We wandered around the London Chinatown and took a gander at each menu to find decent prices, but it still took a while to assess each place and look at the food options. We finally decided on the Golden Dragon (or something like that; they all sound the same) and I was unimpressed. I ordered a standard chicken fried rice, and the chicken kind of seemed undercooked. I only ate a couple pieces that looked normal enough and I didn’t get sick, but the taste in my mouth afterwards was pretty revolting. The rice itself was fine, but I did have to add a bunch of soy sauce to taste. Jen’s food looked good, or at least the dim sum did. I’ll let you figure out what that is for yourself; it’s heavenly.

We departed from the restaurant and instantly began looking for a map to start out trek to the theater. After about forty-five minutes of walking around at lightning speeds, we finally reached the correct theater to see Wicked. I was really excited! All in all, the show was fantastic and everyone involved did an amazing job. I was blown away by Defying Gravity almost to the point of tears, but my feelings weren’t really any less for the rest of the songs. It was enjoyable, hilarious, depressing, intriguing, and so many other descriptive words. I would most definitely recommend it to anyone, even if you’re not the biggest theater-goer. The seats were cheap enough, the view was decent, and the vocals were fantastic. I couldn’t ask for too much more!

All in all it was a good day, even though I did want to flop and sleep at the end of it. Unfortunately, I ended up staying up quite late to read for my class for this morning… again, don’t judge. I only have one class left this week, so I am looking forward to that. And although I still have to finish my essay for Sunday, I am certain it will get finished. You know, eventually.